Laws of the People's Republic of China

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER TWO SIGNING OF CONTRACT AND CHARGES

CHAPTER THREE SELECTION OF LABOURERS DISPATCHED

CHAPTER FOUR IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTRACTS

CHAPTER FIVE PUNISHMENT

CHAPTER SIX APPENDIX

   Article 1 This set of regulations are formulated with a view to helping improve the labour cooperation between the inland areas of the motherland and the Hong Kong region and the implementation of the policy of "one country, two systems" for maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

   Article 2 Labour cooperation with Hong Kong region should follow the unified State policies and regulations, submit to unified coordination and management and follow the principle of fair competition. Force down prices between operating firms and involvements of middle dealers are forbidden.

   Article 3 Labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region should be carried out in accordance with the need of economic development in Hong Kong and requirements of employers, and the dispatch of labourers to Hong Kong can only be made after getting the entry permission of the HK government.

   Article 4 Labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region must strictly abide by the local laws and regulations of Hong Kong.

   Article 5 Authorized by the State, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) shall exercise unified administration over the labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) provide policy guidance.

   Article 6 MOFTEC shall decide through consultation with HKMAC in irregular time the names of the companies which undertake labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region in accordance with scale of import of labourers by Hong Kong and the business conditions of the companies of the inland areas. Unauthorized companies are all banned to carry out labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region.

   Article 7 Companies which carry out labour cooperation with Hong Kong region should get registered in Hong Kong and obtain business licenses in line with relevant Hong Kong laws and regulations.

   Article 8 Labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region can only be carried out after examination and approval by competent department and the operating companies should go through the exit formalities for the labourers by presenting the document of approval by MOFTEC (Cooperation Department).

CHAPTER TWO SIGNING OF CONTRACT AND CHARGES

   Article 9 The operating companies should directly sign labour cooperation contracts with employers which have been approved to import labour by the Hong Kong Government.

   Article 10 The operating companies should also sign contracts with the labourers clearly defining the rights and duties of both parties. The articles of the contracts concerned should not in contradicted with those in the contract between the operating companies and employees of the labourers.

   Article 11 Labourers should sign employment contracts with the employers in line with "Contracts for Employing Outside Labourers" issued by the Hong Kong Government. Operating companies should explain the content of the contracts to the labourers and answer their questions.

   Article 12 Operating companies should collect service charges from the labourers according to the unified State regulations. Monthly service charges collected by an operating company from the labourers recruited from the society should not surpass 12.5% of a labourer's monthly payment decided by the Hong Kong Government; the labourer's original unit which reserves the post for the labourer may also collect a monthly additional charge which is not more than 12.5% of a labourer's monthly payment. The two kinds of service charges should be collected at one time by an operating company and a labourer's original unit respectively prior to the labourer is sent to Hong Kong in forms of cash, guarantee, mortgage or loans.

   Article 13 The fees for passport and visa of the labourers to Hong Kong should be covered by the employers in Hong Kong and the operating companies should not collect them from the labourers.

CHAPTER THREE SELECTION OF LABOURERS DISPATCHED

   Article 14 An operating company should select the labourers concerned under the principle of good quality, healthy, technically qualified and competent for the job to work in Hong Kong.

   Article 15 The recruitment of labourers to go to Hong Kong should be conducted solely by the operating companies and Hong Kong employers and middle dealers are strictly forbidden to come to the inland areas to recruit themselves.

   Article 16 The recruitment of labourers to Hong Kong should follow the principle of being open and fair and operating companies must not collect any other extra charges from the recruited people except those in line with the items and standards approved by the competent foreign trade and economic cooperation departments.

   Article 17 The operating companies should not in principle recruit labourers from across provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) when there are needs to recruit such labourers from across provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) under special reasons, applications with suitable explanation should be submitted to competent departments for approval and go proper formalities should be gone through with the competent foreign trade and economic cooperation departments of the localities where the labour personnel belong to upon presentation of the approval documents.

   Article 18 Operating companies should be responsible for training the Hong Kong-bound labourers in accordance with the "Regulations Governing the Training of Overseas Labourers" of the State and the labourers can only be sent to Hong Kong after they pass the examination and are issued the "Training Certificate of Overseas Labourers".

CHAPTER FOUR IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTRACTS

   Article 19 The operating company must strictly implement the contracts they sign with the employers and the labourers and urge and supervise the latters in seriously honouring of the contracts.

   Article 20 The Hong Kong-bound labourers must abide by local laws and regulations in Hong Kong and must not change employers and jobs set in the contracts concerned, when the contracts expire, they must timely return to their original resident areas and must not stay in Hong Kong without any reason.

   Article 21 Operating companies should protect the legal rights and interests of the labourers sent to Hong Kong and represent the labourers to take up matters when the employers fail to honour the contracts or when labour disputes arise. They must timely deal with major problems upon their occurrence and report the matters to the higher competent departments.

   Article 22 Operating companies should timely keep an eye at the working and living conditions of the labourers and cooperate with the employers to seriously strengthen the management of the labourers.

   Article 23 Operating companies will be revoked of their right to conduct labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region if they violate Articles 2 and 8 of this set of regulations, and they will be criticized through circulated notices.

   Article 24 Operating companies may be revoked of their right to conduct labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region and be criticized through circulated notices apart from being ordered to return the overcharges if they violate Articles 12 and 16 of this set of regulations.

   Article 25 Operating companies which violate other articles of this set of the regulations will be given punishments such as warning or serious warning according to the seriousness of the cases. The operating companies will be revoked of their right to conducting labour cooperation with the Hong Kong region and be criticized through circulated notices if they have been given a total of two warnings in a period of two years.

   Article 26 Labourers concerned will be dealt with according to local laws and regulations if they commit law-breaking actions in Hong Kong; they will be dealt with in accordance with regulations in the inland areas if they violate the contracts they signed with operating companies.

   Article 27 The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation is entitled to interpret this set of regulations.

   Article 28 This set of regulations will be promulgated as of the date of inssuance.